As Drought Persists, Provinces Adapt Crop Insurance Programs

Terri Goveia | June 30, 2009

Government officials in two Western provinces have tweaked their crop insurance programs to aid farmers struggling with drought conditions.

Farmers in stricken areas in Saskatchewan and Alberta will see faster claims payouts and relaxed seeding rules, according to government officials in both provinces. Adjustments to Saskatchewan Crop Insurance means that the hardest-hit farmers can process claims without a crop inspections, and choose alternate uses for their fields, while those still able to plant now have more time to seed, and more choice in what they plant, the province’s agriculture minister, Bob Bjornerud, announced June 24.

Alberta’s AgriInsurance program has adopted similar changes, allowing acreage to be used for grazing or silaging, and establishing “average area yields” to speed up claims without inspections, according to the more flexible processes announced  June 29. “We’ve learned from the 2002 drought,” George Groeneveld, Alberta’s minister of agriculture and development said in outlining the changes.

Saskatchewan has also extended the deadline for seeding cereal crops like wheat, barley and rye—grown for greenfeed-- from June 30 to July 15, and farmers growing these crops can now seed and insure any cereal crop. “We recognize the challenges facing producers in these drought-stricken areas,” Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud said in a statement. “These changes will help accelerate program payments to producers and address potential feed shortages.”

Adjusters are making the rounds in both provinces, gauging the damage caused by prolonged dry conditions, and Minister Bjornerud also toured Saskatchewan’s hardest hit areas last week.